A SLICE of Trafford Park and two city centre office blocks have changed hands as part of a £385m deal.

Property magnate Nick Leslau, who has long been involved with the Manchester business world, has teamed up with West Coast Capital and Lehman Brothers to buy a 70-strong portfolio from Green Properties.

The deal means that Green, the Anglo-Irish property giant, sells around one-third of the entire Trafford Park industrial area. Two buildings in central Manchester, including Churchgate House on Oxford Street, also change hands.

Leslau will now re-launch his property business, Burford - well-known in the north west for its plans to develop a massive new rail-freight interchange at Carrington Moss. It was also the company that transformed run-down Heywood Distribution Park into an award-winning success story.

The sale ends Green's five-year reign at Trafford Park. The firm acquired the land and buildings in 1998 after a hostile take-over of Trafford Park Estates, run by former Manchester lord mayor Sir Neil Westbrook, who eventually caved in to a £146m bid from Green.

Income from Trafford Park help to boost Green's turnover and profits. But development at the key Electric Park site proved much tougher than had been expected.

The company sold the site as part of efforts to reduce its debt, following a management buy-out.